Karrigan Taylor isn’t a name you may be familiar with, but chances are if you pay any attention to cosplay you will be soon enough. Since starting her cosplay journey less than two years ago her popularity within the cosplay community has exploded. Karrigan’s name and face are all over fan pages, reddit and Instagram. In less than two years her social media following has blown up to nearly 200,000 Instagram followers and shows no sign of slowing down. If that wasn’t impressive enough, she’s somehow managed to do this while juggling her cosplay career with modeling, working as a part-time professional princess, figure skating at a competitive level and studying for a degree in creative writing for entertainment. Lucky for you AiPT! was fortunate enough to grab some of the rising star’s precious free time for an interview.

AiPT!: Tell us a little bit about where you’re from and how you like to spend your time when you aren’t cosplaying.

Karrigan: I’m from a very small town in Massachusetts but I now live in Orlando, Florida now. Most of the time when I’m not cosplaying I’m either in class, doing various different forms of art (writing, makeup, dance, etc) or I’m in Disney World. I also work part time as a princess performer.

AiPT!: Walk us through how you got started with cosplay and what your first experience at a convention was like.

Karrigan: My first cosplay and convention was Catwoman for 2016 Boston Comic Con. I fell in love with it almost immediately, especially because I had been wanting to cosplay for a long time but didn’t really take that step towards it until then, I didn’t really know how to. I typically don’t like going to cons now as much as I used to, but that con was definitely magical in a way. It was eye opening.

AiPT!: You mention on your website that less than two years ago you debuted your first cosplay and as a result your social media following literally exploded. How do you deal with the massive amount of positive and negative exposure and attention that comes with that?

Karrigan: Yes, it blew up pretty quickly. It was something that I definitely had to get used to. Luckily, for the most part, people are super nice. For every hate comment there are 50+ nice comments. At first the hate got to me a lot, I would be devastated every time someone would comment negatively on my work. Now I’ve learned to laugh it off and just pay attention to those who love me. It’s still crazy to me that so many people love me, it’s humbling. I have no time for the haters anymore haha. I’m way too busy for that!

AiPT!: I see that you’re a student at Full Sail University studying creative writing for entertainment. Any chance we’ll see you behind the scenes at NXT working with writing team?

Karrigan: That would be amazing, we’ll see! My school is really involved with WWE NXT so, it’s a possibility for sure!

AiPT!: As a fellow Overwatch fan, I have to know your thoughts on Overwatch League thus far. As a Florida native I imagine you’re supporting the Florida Mayhem, or has another team stolen your allegiance?

Karrigan: To be completely honest with you, I haven’t really been keeping up with it. I was at the very beginning but I’ve been pretty busy. I’ve been playing a lot of fortnite recently as well. I just played Overwatch for the first time in a couple weeks the other day. I wish I had followed it more.

AiPT!: I’m a Mercy main and the latest patch has hit me hard. What heroes can we find you playing and are you working up the ladder or having fun in arcade mode?

Karrigan: I’m currently a Reaper main but I also play a lot of Soldier 76, Dva and Bastion. I don’t play comp. I find it to be super toxic and I’m just not into it. I feel like I’m not a real overwatch fan because of the fact that I only play arcade and quick play haha, but it’s just what I find myself enjoying the most. I game to have fun, I’m not trying to stress myself out more than I need to, which is ultimately what comp does for me.

AiPT!: You’re a cosplayer, model, professional princess, accomplished figure skater and studying for a degree in creative writing for entertainment. That’s quite the impressive resume. How do you balance so many different passions and manage to have a personal life on top of that?

Karrigan: Thank you! It’s a lot, I’ll be honest. I have always juggled a lot at once, it’s been that way my entire life. To some extent, I’m so used to it that now if I’m not doing a million things at once I feel like I’m not doing enough. Sometimes I can’t post as much because of how much I’m doing outside of my instagram business, and I’ve had no time to stream. I can’t really complain though because I’ve been so blessed with success, and I’m super proud of all I’ve accomplished. A lot of the times I’ll make a cosplay during my only free time with the hour I have between work and school. I also usually will spend an entire day off just taking a bunch of different pictures to post on my page over the next week. I’ve found doing this typically works and helps me keep up with my page.

AiPT!: You’re a massive Star Wars fan like myself. Talk to me about The Last Jedi. Did it meet your expectations? Exceed them? How many times have you seen it?

Karrigan: I’ve seen it twice. I have mixed feelings on TLJ. I really didn’t like it the first time I saw it, but I went back to the theater and saw it again and found that I liked it a lot more. It was disappointing, that’s for sure. I think a lot of the answers we wanted weren’t given to us. I’m hoping the next one will be better. I’m excited for Solo though!

AiPT!: A lot of your fans are hoping to see you put a Patreon page together. Is this something we can expect from you in the future?

Karrigan: I’ve tried patreon twice. Both times I just really didn’t like it. I found it hard to keep up with and it just wasn’t worth the trouble. I don’t think I will ever have a patreon page again.

AiPT!: What’re you most looking forward to this year?

Karrigan: I have a bunch of new cosplays coming up including Chun Li, Nidalee, Dva and I also am working on a Fortnite hero cosplay. My merch is coming out soon which is super exciting and I am going to be opening a print store as well! In terms of entertainment I am super excited for Deadpool 2, Infinity War, Solo and Tomb Raider. I’m also excited for the Mission Impossible coming out with Henry Cavill, I love him haha. I’m super excited to see what 2018 will have to offer the cosplay, movie, and gaming world!